Criticism of the Government’s Passive response.. ‘We have to actively let our history be known’

On the 29th, it was anounced that in a report by the American Congressional Research Service illuminating the historical and geopolitical relations of East Asia, a distorted argument saying, ‘Goguryeo and Balhae were provinces of Tang Dynasty China,’ will be released. This picture showing Goguryeo and Baekje as territories of the Tang China is taken from a map of the Tang territory at the Chinese Hu Shan Cheng History Memorial Hall.

Criticism of the Government’s Passive response.. ‘We have to actively let our history be known’

Government authorities explained that this report will reference material briefly explaining China’s position, while the Northeast Asia History Foundation claimed it would convey Korea’s side of the story and that the report would reflect this.

However, the academic world is expressing concern at this report, considering that the stance of China wanting to incorporate the histories of Goguryeo and Balhae might become an internationally established fact.

It has been suggested that the government also has to abandon the passive position it takes every time an issue like this one arises and actively inform the world that Goguryeo and Balhae are a part of Korean history..

Professor Yoo Yong-tae of Seoul National University remarked, ‘It’s worrying, even though government authorities claim the American report provides data simply introducing China’s position, since materials published in the American congress are acknowledged by global authorities, even a simple introduction can have meaning.’

Professor Yoo was greatly critical of the The Northeast Asia History Foundation, saying, ‘[It] said it would explain our side of the story to America so that the report would reflect our position, but saying that it did its job by merely conveying our position is absurd.’

Professor Jo Beob-jong of Wooseok University commented, ‘It looks like the American congress is preparing for the changing state of affairs in East Asia by moving to grasp its historical and cultural background.’

Professor Jo also stated, ‘In terms of Goguryeo history, China is aware of the opposition of Korean scholars, and to a certain degree there is an atmosphere of acceptance of Korea’s position, but regarding Balhae, the attacks are mounting,’ as well as advising, ‘We need to actively express our position.’

Some have pointed out the importance of developing the academic capacity to counter China’s arguments.

Professor Roh Tae-don of Seoul National University emphasizes, ‘The accumulation of academic research regarding the histories of Goguryeo, Balhae, and Gojoseon is most important.’

A spokesman for government authorities says, ‘In order to prevent a biased report, Korea delivered its side of the story,’ as well as, ‘We must remain vigilant until the content of the report is released.’

Tang China intended to destroy Balhae so they attacked it many times, but they were held off. So they call it Balhae and gave it the title of ‘Strong Country by the East Sea’ ke ke How could a mere province like Balhae have more military strength than a country like Tang China? ke ke That’s hilarious ke ke ke

So Emperor Yang threw a tantrum and got owned by a ‘province’ [referring to Goguryeo].

angm:

It’s the same with Dokdo and the same with Goguryeo… We have to firmly assert our position on a national level.

ruka:

Look at the responses. National history and territorial protection, It’s a problem of identity but the leaders on the left and right are fighting again. It’s so stifling, really.

kiss:

There is snickering coming from the grave of King Gwanggaeto the Great. The language, the culture and appearance are all different, but it’s a province? This is more preposterous than saying that Dokdo is a part of Japan. In the Tales of the Dongyi, The Book of Wei in the History of the Three Kingdoms, Goguryeo was clearly referred to as a distinct country, so is China denying its own history books?

hqne:

I suppose it’s a bit regrettable, but what’s the point of complaining only about South Korean government? North Korea should voice up too but they only think South Korea is their punchbag. Just look at news about South Korean society. Everyday, it’s suicide, murder, accidents; these stories make up 70% of the news, so what must North Koreans think? Either we turn Pyongyang into a wasteland as the last means or we accept permanent division. Responsibility for all this lies with foolish South Koreans who cannot distinguish the truth. Seriously, only South Korea in the entire world is wasting energy, arguing about the commies and chin’ilpa.

jhu2:

I dream of studying history and I want to research the histories of various countries in the world, but I feel pathetic coming from a country that can’t even manage its own history… Why in the world did Korean History become an elective course? ㅠㅠ Really, the limits of the 7th and 8th revised curricula will show themselves. We are becoming a nation of people who do not even know their own history, so the government has to change national history from an elective into a mandatory course like Korean, math and English. Science students don’t learn it and liberal arts students can choose it. Is there a rule that says it’s okay for science students not to know their own history? Is national history more important than English and math? [netizen probably meant to say this the other way around] It’s really pathetic.

clim:

What has Lee Myung-bak done as president? Hasn’t he been getting rid of history education? With an excuse of special lectures, he let New Right chin’ilpa academics lecture at high schools. Have you heard the interview with the high school students? They also knew it was pro-Japanese version of history. How can a country where rootless Lee Myung-bak from Osaka is the president discuss history? He even cut down on the budgets for history education.

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chucky3176

I see nothing wrong with the US report. They are merely reporting on and stating what is China’s stance is on this, which is basically bull shit history made up by China’s commie government.

Righteous American

You are Chinese. Get over it. A Chinese minority to be exact. Even your own Korean language, which was purposely constructed to replace your native Chinese language, wasn’t disseminated until almost a thousand years after the Tang.

chucky3176

Oh right, Righteous Chinese… err..oops.. I mean “Righteous American”.

dk2020

LOL .. the Korean language sounds nothing like Cantonese or Mandarin, da fuq u talking about boy? Where u from in the states and what makes you a East Asian history expert?

x1sfg

He’s a troll, don’t feed him. Only an idiot would think a tonal linguistic group like Sino-Tibetan and Turkic-Altaic-Korean-Japonic are the same.

Korean does have sino-root words, as English has Latin root words, but Korean is not Chinese as English is not a Romantic Language (it’s more Germanic).

jon775

It’s not “more germanic”, it IS germanic, and nothing else.

vanyuelding

Fuckk that ! English is more close to french than to german! Have you ever heard speaken german??? Shit is awful atrocious a troma !

jon775

Germanic, not German, you ignorant fool.

vanyuelding

Connard couillon

dk2020

Sprechen sie deutsche?

vanyuelding

Ya eine bissen aber ich mage nicht diese sprache ><

x1sfg

Reason being is Germanic people such as the Saxons, Normans, and so on had a tendency to invade everyone around them, hence the linguistic influence. English os a tricky language as a result, with various rules in grammar, and various EXCECPTIONS to those rules. Pronunciation is also more complicated than say, Spanish or Japanese where each character represents one sound only. None of the hard “a” and “ah”

x1sfg

I know the classification. The “more” was to differentiate it from Latin. Vanyuelding is right though, although the classification is Germanic, more words in the English language have Latin and Old French roots than Old German.

Van Yuelding, if you can find some primary texts in Old English, you can definitely see the connection to even modern German.

jon775

Ah, yes, although you have to remember that a lot of the French words imported to English are actually Germanic in origin (the Normans were Germanic after all, and had great influence on the Norman dialect). And then there’s of course how often those words are being used. Almost every word on the top 100 list of most commonly used words are Germanic.

redgirls

Could some one give a history of why people are annoyed with this report ?
Please. For the uninitiated.

chucky3176

Because that Chinese map where the entire Korean peninsula is colored same as China, is not true.

Zappa frank

can you explain me the difference that it makes for koreans linving now? it’s like to quarrel if an province was part or not of the roman empire… why you care that much?does it change something? of course as more as we go back in history as more easily will find a common ground for koreans and chinese…

Paul M

Because Italy (or Rome for that matter) isn’t laying claim to various territories. China’s ‘historical’ claim on Korean kingdoms could have an impact on reunification.

Zappa Frank

you mean that china will claim some territories just because a thousand and something years ago they were (according to that theory…) part of one (of many) country who contributed at the origin of china? sincerelly seems absurd.. Which territories is china claiming now? Do chinese want north korea? i’ve never read this.. may be that so much hate among each others made you oversospicius?

Paul M

Who knows what their overall agenda is, however I’m sure that China wouldn’t say no to greater control over North Korea and would want a greater share of influence over a reunited Korea (if it ever happens) than the US. What better way to justify this than by citing a historical precedent. Take the Liancourt Rocks situation with both Japan and Korea using history to justify their claims to the islands. Yes, it does all seem absurd but that’s the world we live in.

rus

not oversuspicious imo, even Hillary Clinton admitted concessions in land would likely have to be given to China if North Korea collapsed. Koreans might seem to be overreacting but when your neighbour has 1.3 billion people, with over a hundred million bachelors unable to find wives (single dudes not getting any tend to be aggressive) , I’d be paranoid too….

Zappa Frank

i see your point… but this makes me thing that east may become a dangerous place..

NoYoureParanoid

I’m sorry but that is simply absurd. That area in North East China is barren enough as it is, Chinese people do not want to live in that wasteland. It’s cold, it’s dry and it’s poor, which is why North Eastern Chinese are always migrating to other cities in search of a better life. There is enough land in China, and a hundred million bachelors are not going to start a war, the Chinese government has them slaving away, using all their energy to save up for a condo which they’ll spend the rest of their lives paying for.

Jennster

inner mongolia is actually like the 5th richest chinese province or something but only has 24 million people living there. there has been infrastructure developments but empty grandeur apartments because no migrants want to move there. all north east chinese move to beijing/shenzhen. southeast chinese move to hong kong/guangzhou/shenzhen. inner provinces/east chinese move to shanghai.

rus

Absurd, really? Your point is that North east China is a barren wasteland that no one wants to live in, right? Ok, great, I agree, People don’t want to live there, but a lot have no choice. So what does that have to do with the Chinese government wanting to control part of North Korea should it collapse?

China doesn’t play nice with its neighbors, just look at history and even today…

I never said 100 million bachelors were going to start a war. I said they would be aggressive. For example they would support the Chinese government being belligerent with its neighbours.

According to you China has enough land, perhaps you should inform the CPC of that because they don’t seem to share your idea.

chucky3176

He means, China’s possible future claims on North Korea. It’s been well documented. It doesn’t take much to find out. Come on, you can use the google search, can’t you?

doesn’t seem to me. are you sure you’re not overeacting?
i didn’t find anything reliable about china’s claims on Noth korea

dk2020

These Chinese claims are nothing new .. I’ve heard about it for a couple years now ..

Zappa Frank

i’m sure you heard about it, but are you sure was reliable? i may be wrong, but sometime seems that among chinese-koreans-japs there are a lot of misunderstanding, seems to play

Chinese whispers-telephone game.. like with that thing about korean confucius …

chucky3176

Think about it for a moment, Zappa. China’s favorite game at this moment is that everywhere is Asia is part of Chinese territory because of what? Because of history. Their territorial claims of all its surrounding areas are based on past historical claims. If we (as we in the world) accept the lie that Korea was one of the provinces in China, historically, what stops China from one day, claiming entire Korea also belongs to China? Koreans, in this case, are rightfully worried about this US government report, because they’re worried that it will give an important historical legitimacy to China’s historical claims, thus their territorial claims that they make now, and the future.

Zappa Frank

it could be, but the passage from an history claim to a territorial claim on present time is not so obvious, even if we suppose that (for absurd) Korea was part of China some thousands and something years ago.. than? If China would claim Korean territory on this basis no one in the world would take seriously their claim… there’s nothing like historical legitimacy on territories you’ve (eventually) lost some thousands years ago (except for Israel…).. it would be just ridiculous. If China on those basis would act by force attacking Korea than would be good as well any other casus belli than (as USA taught us) can be easily created.

But this is what i could think from my side of the world, far from China. I’m sure that having China as neighbor my prospective may change.

chucky3176

You said..

“If China would claim Korean territory on this basis no one in the world would take seriously their claim…”

Well, China is claiming the entire South China Sea as their’s, based on historical claims. How is the world dealing with those claims now? I’ll tell you. The world is doing exactly ZIP. Once China starts claiming historical claims on North Korea, same thing will happen – which is nothing. China is content to let things be now, as long as North Korea stands as the buffer zone. But once North Korea collapses, China will be tempted to get involved in establishing a Chinese friendly puppet government in North Korea backed by Chinese military, to cater to Beijing. And the best excuse of all would be historical claims of China over Korea. Sure, people outside of the PRC will scoff at the claims, but will they be able to do anything about it? I would say they’ll do nothing, as long as they’re able to get their made in China toys from Walmart at discount prices.

Zappa Frank

south china sea is unhabited and was already disputed (so far that acutally we have 4 or 5 countires in this dispute), Korea has koreans and acutally no one dispute Korean territory (well not korean penisula at least for what i know), is not the same. You really think USA would not move a finger?
Maybe is true when North Korea will collapse China would eventually claim part of North Korean territory.. But to claim all Korea is something, for me, unbelivable.. and as well is unbelivable that no one will move a finger.

Korea has been claiming Koguryo as a Korean kingdom since the Koryo dynasty in the 1200’s, in the book Samguk Sagi. Ever since, the kingdoms of Koguryo, Silla, Baekjae, and Kaya have always been high in the consciousness of Koreans, with the history of Korean kingdoms taught in schools for centuries. On the other hand, Chinese started claiming Koguryo as a Chinese provincial state, starting only in the 1990’s, while most Chinese didn’t even have any ideal what Koguryo was, until their state government started telling them about it.

x1sfg

Kinda like how the Chinese didn’t care about the Senkaku/Daioyu Islands… Until they found natural resources in recent years and the CCP started spreading propaganda about how China’s sovereignty is being treaded on by the evil Japanese.

Another thing to add is that Koguryo has fighting with the Tang and different ethnic grounds in modern China constantly. Koguryo officials did at one point pay monetary tribute for temporary peace, but it was not a Chinese province.

Most of it is petty fighting, but from an objective historians’ point of view, a necessary petty fight as they try to take account of both sides, even if one has no historical context.

Yorgo

Yeah, well, when the Qing conquered China, Koreans were saying that the Joseon Kings were the real kings of China, so ….

Ogroy

That’s cuz Koreans have ethnic ties to manchurians

Eidolon

Ah, so it’s okay for Koreans to distort history and identity, but not the Chinese, gotcha.

Lovely

Asian countries give america so much face

dk2020

I don’t care about history .. how about working for a better future ..

x1sfg

If you don’t care about history or learn about it, you’ll just make the same mistakes that were made in past in your “better future.”

Then again, the US is following in the footsteps of the Roman Empire as well as adopting failed Western European social and economic policies as of late, when we have enough problems as it is

dk2020

Well of course learn from history, but I think the truth is already out there .. these historical and territorial disputes are really petty and detrimental for anybody from really learning anything, just causing more hostility and nationalism in East Asia ..

x1sfg

“Truth” is written by the victors. Everyone tries to get their POV across at the expense of others. The conquered loses most its recorded history or their history becomes muddled by all the propaganda. even recent history such as WWII, which is the subject of revisionism every other year by different historians. That’s why in the modern age with the internet, it’s in the little guy’s best interest to get everything out there and hope that in 50 years, some Revisionist historian would find it

http://www.facebook.com/joseph.lopez.7967747 Joseph Lopez

“….the US is following in the footsteps of the Roman Empire as
well as adopting failed Western European social and economic policies as
of late, when we have enough problems as it is”

The US is nothing like the Roman empire. Many people have been predicting the collapse of the US many times but they’ve always been wrong. Don’t know why Americans are so obsessed with their country’s collapse. Also, there’s one Western European country with a successful social and economic policy; that country is Sweden. When “Obamacare” was introduced many American conservatives vilified that law and feared that their country would be “socialist” like Sweden when it’s one of the few successful countries in Western Europe today. Its economy is actually thriving

Zappa Frank

few successful conuntries in western europe? can you tell me where you can find (and how many) countries with a better living condition than western europe? Beside, crysis is an economic thing, with exception of greece (a plan for saving should be approved soon) there are no european country that are about to default..

http://www.facebook.com/joseph.lopez.7967747 Joseph Lopez

You spelled “crisis” wrong and yes, Western Europe may have a high standard of living but because of a lot of Western European countries’ irresponsible financial behavior, those countries are now suffering economically and along with it, the ordinary people’s standard of living. Stop being in denial and accept the fact that, not a lot of countries in Western Europe are doing well

“an you tell me where you can find (and how many) countries with a better living condition than western europe?”

Easy: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, USA, Japan, Singapore, Japan, south Korea, and Taiwan. Combine all these countries together and they have a larger population and a much larger economy than Western Europe. Also geographically, if you combine them all together, it’ll be larger than all of Western Europe

Zappa Frank

i don’t agree, i doubt living condition in USA, Japan, Korea for average people are better than UE..till now.. later we’ll see, anyway i may be wrong because i’ve never lived in USA, Japan or Korea, but have you lived in UE on the other side? ( living condition of average americans are not exactly improving as far as i know). i don’t want and i can’t write an essay about UE crisis (thanks for correction, really i’m not joking), but is a bit different from “too much welfare” that is said by newspapers.. Beside, even been behind countries you said means that UE is not successuful? We’re not poor yet, may be not a great success, but still we’re far from beeing africa.

Zappa Frank

agree…i don’t see the point if a country of xxxxyears ago was korean or chinese.. does it make any difference now?

Paul M

To quote George Orwell in his seminal book ‘1984’ – “Who
controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present
controls the past.”

PixelPulse

Can kids really choose their country history as an elective choice?

Paul M

I’m not surprised since a lot of Koreans I have spoken to seem to have a very superficial knowledge of their own history. My wife doesn’t even know when the Korean War was! I also hate they way the Joseon Dynasty is blown all out of proportion and glorified as some kind of golden age at the expense of the Three Kingdoms period, which I find far more exciting and interesting. If public perception (in Korea) of Korean history was more balanced then Chinese historians wouldn’t be able to get away with this nonsense.

Brett

Because Hangul was invented during the Joseon Dynasty and it is the most superior writing system known to man, of course.

Paul M

How foolish of me to forget humanity’s single greatest achievement. That reminds me. better start getting used to saying ‘Peeshwee’ instead of ‘fish’.

dk2020

how condescending of you paul .. i hope youre teaching your wife the correct pronunciation ..

Paul M

I’m merely responding to certain remarks from Koreans that Hangeul is the best alphabet in the world and that it should be a global alphabet. Sure, it’s great for Korean but absolutely useless at representing other languages. If I had to choose what my favourite alphabet would be I’d have to go for Cyrillic, it’s phonetic, like hangeul, but with the bonus of being used by several different languages.

dk2020

fair enough .. you know I don’t agree with those type of extremists, which are mostly harmless old Korean Christian folks right? Let them have their foolish pride they’re not hurting anybody and I doubt Hangul will ever be used as a global alphabet..

Paul M

I’m sure they are harmless, however it’s just really tiresome and irritating to have these folk rub your face in it all the time.

dk2020

When I see the bible thumping ajjeomas coming my way at the Korean market parking lots .. I just duck my head and run the other way lols .. do they pass out pamphlets in the streets in Seoul promoting Hangul for a global alphabet too? Haha, just gotta shake your head and laugh it off bro ..

dk2020

Gotta give Hangul it’s props by it’s own merits .. it’s genius is because it’s really easy to learn, that’s why Korea has a low illiteracy rate. That’s why Koreans are so proud of it .. I am. I won’t say it is superior then any other writing system but it is easier to learn than Chinese or Japanese that’s for sure ..

NoYoureParanoid

Hangul is a nice invention, but it doesn’t have history, it doesn’t have soul. The Chinese writing system is harder to learn but you can literally feel the history behind the words, you can see how ancient Chinese people used pictures to communicate and how that picture transformed over thousands of years into what people use today. That’s what I find most interesting about the Chinese language. You can express complex ideas with a few words because in ancient times, you had to carve the text on bamboo slips, so they invented words with deep complex meanings. The Chinese language was never about mass communication, it’s more like art or poetry, something for scholars and the elites.

dk2020

That’s true .. Chinese calligraphy is beautiful .. my grandpops would write in Hanja on long scrolls with the brushes and everything .. there should be more mutual respect and appreciation of each others cultures instead of the hating and bickering of who is superior because that accomplishes nothing.

Sillian

I don’t think Joseon is particularly glorified as some golden age. There were relatively good moments under good leaders during the dynasty but it’s often painted with incompetent leaders who indulged in inward-looking factionism. Not to mention it couldn’t industrialize and failed to fend off imperialism. It’s just that it was the last dynasty that lasted for 5 hundred years and therefore there is plenty of remaining detailed records that you can base popular entertainment on. But yea, I personally find the so-called Three Kingdoms period very interesting. It must have been hellish to live in constant warfare.

dk2020

Well, it’s like Westerns in the US which does get glorified in films. There were more heroes during the Joseon dynasty like Admiral Yi and the turtle ships ..

Admiral Yi wrote that a warrior must master three roads, four obligations, five skills, and ten keys to security.

“The three roads are knowledge of the world; understanding of things as they are; and wisdom toward humanity.

The four obligations are to provide national security with minimal cost; to lead others unselfishly; to suffer adversity without fear; to offer solutions without laying blame.

The five skills are to be flexible without weakness; to be strong without arrogance; to be kind without vulnerability; to be trusting without naivete; and to have invincible courage.

The ten keys to security are purity of purpose, sound strategy, integrity, clarity, lack of covetousness, lack of addiction, a reserved tongue, assertiveness without aggression, being firm and fair, and patience.”

Sillian

Admiral Yi Sun Sin was a Confucian scholar as well as a brilliant military leader. Have you read Stephen Turnbull’s Samurai Invasion: Japan’s Korean War? It reads like an epic novel. Only if East Asian countries could come together and make an HBO quality epic TV series of the Imjin war…

dk2020

Do you know about Miyamoto Musashi? Yeah, it was crazy back then to live and die for honor ..

For those who study history I’m sure they know the real merits of the Joseon era, however the image that is often presented to foreign visitors coming to Korea is of a veritable utopia populated with happy well fed singing peasants.

Sillian

On a superficial level, isn’t that normal? Like some people only think of knights in shiny armor in medieval Europe while the gritty reality of exploited peasants is pushed aside. There are things that interest the mass.

Paul M

Not really. In Europe especially people seem to be more aware of the unpleasant side of their history and don’t have an overly romanticised view of it. This is partly thanks to enlightenment period scholars who in an effort to show how advanced they were characterised the medieval period as backward, stagnant and savage and this image has stuck ever since.

Sillian

I thought you were talking about superficial images that foreigners may have. If you grow up in Korea, take national history courses in high school and actually pay attention in class, you would learn about plenty of hardships and uprisings that commoners went through even if you don’t major in history in university. In fact, late Joseon gets so much flak for lots of failures. Your wife doesn’t even know when the Korean War happened so I can understand where you get that impression from anyway.

Paul M

You’re the one who mentioned knights in shining armour, which is an image only seen in children’s fairy stories. Recent Hollywood films don’t show this side at all (Kingdom of Heaven, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, The Reckoning). Yet a few weeks ago I went to the fortress at Jinju and saw a 15 minute film about the battle there and it was nothing short of base propaganda designed to stir up nostalgic and patriotic emotions rather than educate. So it’s not just from my wife I get this impression from.

Sillian

I wasn’t very clear but I meant that it’s easy for foreigners who don’t grow up learning about the local history to have superficial notions. You talked about locals and their own history in Europe. If you ask Asians about Europe in the Middle Ages, I think they are much more likely to choose ‘knights in armor’ over something gritty and serious for the primary image they have just like many westerners would recall Samurais and Ninjas when they think of medieval Japan. As to the popular entertainment examples, it is also very common to see aristocrats exploiting low-class people in Korean historical movies and dramas. Have you watched or heard of the hit TV series ‘Slave Hunters’ or ‘추노’ from a couple of years back? It’s all about that.

Mr. Ed

What can the government say when the US report is simply stating facts? China owned Korea’s ass throughout history. That’s not up for dispute, that is simple truth. Korea was a small country that was repeatedly bullied by its larger neighbor. Rather than dwell on that and cry and moan, why not move on? Korea is its own sovereign nation today and is doing very well economically. So who the hell even cares about some line drawn on a map thousands of years ago?

Sillian

The level of ignorance in this comment is truly astonishing. For a starter, Goguryeo gets in the way of your “China owned Korea’s ass throughout history” theory. Do some research on your own. You apparently have no idea what point is actually being discussed. Roughly speaking, only nomad dynasties who ‘owned’ Han Chinese also ‘owned’ Koreans. This is all very rough talk but reasonable enough for your comment.

Eidolon

Even roughly speaking, this is Incorrect. China under the nomads never ‘owned’ Korea the way the Han Dynasty did. Yes, the Koreans were invaded, defeated, submitted to the nomads as vassals, but there was no nomadic colony of the type that were established during the Han. The nomads preferred to establish their colonies in China. It was only the Han Dynasty Chinese who established colonies in Korea.

Historyv

Truthfully speaking, you are also incorrect. Han dynasty ‘never’owned the Korea the way nomads ‘owned’ the Chinese. China never colonized Korea. Other than the extremely minor contribution of the Lelang there isn’t any real archaeological evidence to support your thesis. And Lelang was a very small part of Korean territory that reached all the way to Manchuria at that time. By the same logic China was always a colony. Losing small part of territorial control doesn’t equate to colonization. Also, nomads didn’t ‘own’ Korea. The Jurchens, then Magals were practically slaves and were under Korean control for 1000 years during Goguryo and Balhae period. Khitans got destroyedtrying to invade Goryo, the same Khitans that made Song practically one of their vassal state. Even before the Qing and Manchu domination, during the early Joseon King Sejong period, the Koreans dominated the Jurchen tribes expanding their territory up north. Get your facts straight. Sillian is right. Ever since Tang lost the Silla-Tang War China never dared to provoke Korea militarily again until the Korean War. Most of their influence there and on were cultural not militarily.

What do you think is the worst massacre in human history? It’s not the Rwanda nor the Nanjing Massacre. It’s the Yangzhou
Massacre where 800,000 chinese got brutally slaughtered for resisting the Manchu ruling. Chinese were humiliated to a point where they either had to cut their hair or cut their heads. If the ‘owning’ theory needs to be applied, it should applied here. Nobody is denying China’s influence in Asia. During zenith of their power, culturally they were the most influential where their influence were felt from Vietnam to all the way east to Japan. That doesn’t change the fact that they had their low points or many times suffered great humiliation.

Eidolon

There is an abundance of archaeological evidence to support ‘my’ thesis, which is of course not my thesis, but the thesis of the greater academic community. The impact of the Han colonies in Korea were in no way small. Hyung Il Pai, for example, attributed the development of indigenous state-level societies on the Korean peninsula to the arrival of Han administration.

Among the evidence supporting the Han’s presence in the Korean peninsula are steles, plaques, administrative seals, artifacts, inscribed pottery and bronze, housing, and a plethora of documentation, which has been instrumental to the study of early Korean history.

For that matter, Han Dynasty records are the ONLY sources available for the study of early Korea. Without them, the history of Korea up to the time of the Three Kingdoms would be a blank.

Eidolon

As for the obvious unrelated flame baiting with the Yangzhou Massacre, the idea that China was always a colony, the statement that Khitans destroyed themselves attacking Goryeo, that Koreans ‘dominated’ Jurchen tribes during the Joseon Dynasty… It’s pretty obvious you’re a deluded nationalist with no academic credentials.

Nolodie

Tributary system is totally different. It’s not like Rome who fucked almost every European nation in the ass

Eidolon

The Four Commanderies weren’t tributaries. They were actual administrative units under the direct control of the central imperial government. The longest of them lasted 400 years – a lot longer than nomadic dynasties in China and Korea.

It’s pretty obvious to those who have studied East Asian history to understand that the most enduring Chinese presence in Korea, politically and militarily, occurred during the Han, while culturally it was the Tang and the Ming that had the greatest influence. The Yuan and the Qing were less impactful dynasties, relatively, especially the latter which the Korean court shunned due to their loyalty to the Ming and Ming Neo-Confucianism.

Guest

Why did you parrot the exactly same absurd comment after getting lectured?

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_G3BZRN6Q65NGIJXTBN5HZVKLEU Jahah Hahfd

Except South Korea is not it’s own sovereign nation. North Korea IS a sovereign nation though.. And the BS about US troops in South Korea to defend South against the North is rubbish. But keep treading the distortions..

Historyv

You are not even smart enough to read the US report. They have clarified that they were only stating Chinese side of the story which is a laughing stock and is discredited by any credible scholars. Korea might not have been culturally influential as China but they have always hold their own and were quite of a regional power which at one point heavily influenced ancient Japan.

The word Korea itself originates from Goguryo. Koreans still practice many of the Goguryo customs and feel proud of their ancestors who once roamed Manchuria and was once a powerhouse in Asia. There is no Korea if you take Goguryo out of Korea and is why they’ll even risk war defending their history. I don’t see China even dare claiming N.Korea if it ever falls apart unless they want to risk an all out war.

ChuckRamone

The Chinese are getting increasingly aggressive in Asia – militarily, diplomatically, economically, politically. I think China’s neighbors should smarten up and start forming alliances to create a better balance of power in the region. Don’t cut off your noses to spite your face.

Kate

Oh Koreans shouldn’t get their undies in a wad, its not like Americans are lining up to read a copy of the report by the American Congressional Research Service.

Sillian

When it comes to official documents, I’d say such personal attitude is irrelevant.

As long as they make it clear that they are merely introducing the claims of the subject country with appropriate footnotes, I don’t think it can be a problem.

Jennster

what do koreans think of the recent bashings of korean nationals in australia?

Have you seen the movie Romper Stomper? It was Russell Crowe’s first movie where he played a skinhead against Aussie Viet kids. I’ve heard there is major racial tension against Asian exchange students and factory workers. But then again I have heard the opposite from people too saying how beautiful OZ is and how laid back the people are. Personally, I think it’s like the US where there is racism and hate groups just like any other multicultural country. It doesn’t make me hate all white people or the US though .. hopefully those kids get justice.

LOL apparently this is from a Koreabang article
but in some Chinese museums they are placing maps claiming that the Tang
ruled Baekje and Goguryeo as commanderies or colonies in the Tang
Empire… LOL
This is even more ridiculous because the Chinese are claiming without
any substantial archaeological or historical evidence that even Baekje
was founded by Han Chinese and Korea is an inherent part of Chinese
territory….
The Chinese can leave Korea for all I care if they continue this
hilariously wrong historical distortions… they can pack their bags for
the pollution that awaits them in Beijing really…